Havasupai Figured Coiled Jar Shaped Basket

This is an unusual woven basket with three eagles with outstretched wings around the lower body of the basket, as well as three floating swans below the rim. The swans are separated by three short horizontal bands of joined open-centered crosses that drop down from the rim. The rim is braided and the stitching is very fine, with 20 stitches and 8 coils per inch. It may have been woven by Nina Starkey Siyuja (1879-1934), as she was recognized as a very accomplished basketmaker who did fine work and unusual designs. There is a basket by her that has an eagle, a swan and a vertical band of joined crosses, all similar to those on this basket, which is illustrated on page 98 in in the book Havasupai Baskets and their Makers: 1930-1940 by Barbara and Edwin McKee and Joyce Herold (1975). 

D. 5 ½" H. 4 ¼"